Coronavirus and Acme's Response

Updated 3-30-2020 2:45 p.m. CT

Why We Work

Two days ago, on March 28, a federal agency called the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a set of guidelines for state and local officials to help them safeguard our nation’s “Essential Critical Infrastructure.” According to CISA, “workers performing housing construction related activities” are considered essential. So are workers engaged in institutional construction.

This is what we do every day.

Our business is important to the U.S. economy. The products and services we provide are important to our customers as they work to deliver the homes and buildings Americans need. And certainly the jobs that we provide are important to thousands of Acme families.

We will survive the COVID-19 pandemic. Our associates continue to do their jobs safely and conscientiously, knowing that they what they do is not just important but essential  - to families, to communities, to the construction industry, and to our economy. And next month, we will celebrate our company’s 129th birthday.

We will continue to keep you updated as to the many developments that surround our business.

Dennis Knautz
President & CEO
Acme Brick Company

Updated 3-24-2020 9:00 a.m. CT

Many state, county, and local authorities have ordered residents to “stay-in-place,” restricting them to “essential activities” and work at “essential businesses.” As of this morning, we are not aware of any order that would restrict, let alone close, any of Acme’s sales, distribution, or our production facilities. Of course, that could change later, so we urge you to check with us frequently for updates.

At this time, we continue to do our best to maintain safe and sanitized work areas, practice social distancing, and work-from-home as much as possible in order to provide a safe and healthy work area for our associates and our customers.

While our showrooms remain closed to the public, our contractor desks are open for business.

If you are a customer who needs to get an order filled, please consider texting/emailing/phoning your order in advance to your sales rep or our office, so that we can have our teams prepare your order for delivery/pickup as efficiently as possible.

It is important to note that, collectively, we serve an important cause. Many government agencies have defined construction as an “essential business”! We thank you for trusting us to be an integral element in that process.

Thank you for your business – and for your patience.

Dennis Knautz
President & CEO
Acme Brick Company

Updated 3-17-2020 2:15 p.m. CT

The health & safety of our associates and our customers has always been one of our top priorities.  As the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic has progressed, our efforts to keep everyone safe and healthy has intensified. 

To date, we have looked to the CDC, state, and local agencies for guidance and direction; regularly shared best practices with all of our associates; informed them of proper hygiene practices; urged associates to remain home if they feel ill; and scheduled regular, deeper cleaning of our facilities.

Now, efforts to increase social distancing dictates further changes.  While we feel it is important to keep our sales and distribution facilities open for business in order to continue providing you with industry-leading customer service, some changes must occur.

Therefore, effective Wednesday, March 18, 2020 (and until further notice), we will be closing our sales showrooms to the public.  Our contractor counters will remain open to process orders and arrange for product pick-ups, but there will be special distancing rules that will vary by location.  We will continue to accept customers’ calls during normal business hours and continue to provide you with the service and information that you expect. Please call our local sales office or your sales rep for further assistance.

At this point, all of our brick and block plants are operating at planned rates and our delivery fleet is operating as expected.

It is our plan to post updates on our website at brick.com/coronavirus and through our social media channels on Facebook and Twitter. We hope to return to normal operations as soon as possible. For now, we are doing our best to follow the lead of the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and local authorities.

Dennis Knautz
President & CEO
Acme Brick Company